Wilson 'danced on' body of Marioara, court told

Fergus O'Hanlon told the Central Criminal Court he saw Mr Wilson stand on her body in the shallow grave they had dug together before filling it in and burning her clothes.

He told the jury that he helped the accused dispose of the body after Marioara was allegedly shot dead in "horrific circumstances" at his home in the south inner city.

Mr Wilson (35), of New Street Gardens, Dublin 8, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Marioara (18) at Brabazon Street, The Coombe, between January 7 and 8, 2008.

She went missing while begging in traffic in Dublin city centre on January 6 that year and her body was found in woods on the Dublin/Wicklow border four years later, on January 23, 2012.

In evidence, Mr O'Hanlon said Mr Wilson put the body in the boot of his Ford Mondeo before driving to a location in the Dublin mountains on January 8.

shovel

"Alan took the body out of the car, I was asked to get the shovel," he said. Mr Wilson carried the body in a green bag.

Mr O'Hanlon said after the accused first looked for a "bunker," sticking the shovel in the ground, but could not locate it, they both took it in turns to dig a shallow hole. The body, folded in a "horseshoe shape," was removed from the bag and pushed into the hole.

"She was stood on a few times," he said. "Alan stood on her, dancing on her."

Afterwards, he said, Mr Wilson filled in the hole himself, and the bag with her belongings was drenched in lighter fluid and burned.

Earlier, he said, he was in Kevin Street to collect a disability payment when he was 
called back to the house on Brabazon Street - where he 
lived at the time with his partner, the accused's sister Maxine Wilson.

Mr Wilson came downstairs with a rifle in his hand, he said.

He told the jury the accused told him: "Come here, I want to show you something, " and they went upstairs to Mr O'Hanlon's bedroom.

"There was the body of a dead girl there," he said. "It was in the centre of the room, she was just lying on her back staring at the ceiling."

Mr O'Hanlon told the jury she appeared "normal, like any normal person, it was like she was wide awake, staring at the ceiling".

"She was wearing runners and jeans. She had long hair and she had a hole in her forehead. I only saw one hole in her forehead and blood running down her nose."

Response

He said he asked who she was and the response he got was "that she was a witness to her brother being killed".

The accused left and Mr O'Hanlon went back upstairs and checked the dead girl's pulse but there was "no sign of life". He tried again and there was "nothing at all".

"I was in a daze," he said. "I was staring at her and she was just lying there." He noticed two shell casings on the floor. He left the room again and got sick in the toilet.

"I thought about ringing the guards and an ambulance," he said.

"The more I thought about it, I just didn't because of the circumstances I was in. I was there on my own. The girl was dead. There was nothing I could do. I didn't know what way it would look."

He said the accused returned with a green bag and they went back upstairs. Mr Wilson had the weapon "cocked" and told Mr O'Hanlon to follow him with the bag.

He went to the toilet and when he returned, he said the accused had put a pillow case and sheet from the bed over her head and body.

She said he saw two pairs of gloves, bleach, ammonia, plastic and duct tape in the bag, with a receipt "similar to a Woodies DIY receipt".

He said the accused asked him to remove the clothes from the body, leaving her in her underwear and bra.

Rolled

She was then rolled in sheets of plastic and duct tape. After the body was disposed of, the accused told him to clean up the house with ammonia and bleach.

He did so for two or three days, dismantling the bed and tearing up the bloodstained carpet, which he left with council rubbish.

Cross-examined by Michael O'Higgins SC, for the defence, Mr O'Hanlon denied he was a "compulsive liar".

He also denied he was 
driving the Ford Mondeo registered to Mr Wilson on the day Marioara Rostas disappeared in 2008.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of 10 men and two women.

hnews@herald.ie